After the Houston Astros’ active trade deadline, the team’s short-term and long-term plans took a turn. Before the deadline, Isaac Paredes was the third baseman in Houston for the next few seasons. But that’s no longer the case.
Dana Brown and the Astros landed Carlos Correa from the Minnesota Twins to be their full-time third baseman this season, as Paredes is out with a hamstring injury.
However, while it’s Correa’s job in 2025, it’s also his into the future. That leaves Paredes without a position. Amid the infield conundrum, Chandler Rome of The Athletic revealed how the Astros feel internally about Paredes switching positions, and it’s not very positive.
Astros Don’t Believe Paredes Can Make Infield Switch
There are two positions that Paredes could move to in the infield. The first, and more likely, is his switch to first base. It would coincide with Christian Walker being traded to free up the spot, but it’s a move that Paredes is more realistically capable of making.
The other position is second base. Moving from third base to second base is a bigger challenge for Paredes, as evidenced by the report from Rome on how Astros evaluators see a potential switch to second base for the offseason trade pickup.
“Evaluators inside and outside the Astros’ organization do not believe Paredes is capable of handling second base on an everyday basis,” Rome writes, “but perhaps a full offseason of working there could make it more feasible.”
While this report doesn’t completely shut down the potential for Paredes to make the switch, it does put a damper on the move, as there are people within the Astros organization who don’t believe Paredes can make the move to second base.
Houston will need to figure out a solution to their infield problem in the offseason, and ideally, Paredes’s move to second base would allow the team to keep everyone intact on the roster.
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His progress in learning the position would be huge for the Astros, and while they may try it out, he’s currently hurt and might not be ready to make such a transition for 2026.
As Rome writes, “Whether Paredes will even have a normal winter after a significant hamstring injury is unknown.”
This situation is one to follow once the offseason comes around. Houston needs to make a decision, and it could involve moving on from Paredes if they decide he can’t be the full-time second baseman, and they don’t want to move on from Walker.
It’ll be a busy offseason for the Astros, as they look to reevaluate their options in their infield in the winter. Paredes will be at the center of their decision-making, and for now, there is a belief that a move to second base isn’t realistic for Paredes.
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